Unhealthy state of affairs

Someone has to highlight the potentially sinister and unrepresentative way many Borders community councils are now being run – especially those who have low numbers and no democratic process.

Many are made up of individuals who have not been elected and are not representative of the views of the communities they are living in. Many of those individuals have their own agendas, both personal and political.

It is an unhealthy state of affairs. Without democratic process, putting their own names forward for a position on their local community council can allow extremists to access a platform to record their individual views about a range of local issues such as planning, traffic, roads, education etc.

If MPs, MSPs and SBC councillors were unelected and allowed to have their own personal views recorded as being “the wishes of the local community”, then there would understandably be a huge outcry.

Why have we reached a position where – often due to lack of interest or locals being put off by the thought of the discomfort of sitting round the table with some difficult, but articulate and outspoken characters – a few people with their own agendas are allowed to spout their own personal views as being representative?